Education Minister: Ariel will be a University

Gideon Saar says "there will be struggles" but is confident they will end with a new university.

Gil Ronen, 05/07/12 22:01

Minister Gideon Saar

Flash 90

Education Minister Gideon Saar said Thursday that he will recommend that the Ariel University Center be recognized as a university. Saar is also the head of the Council for Higher Education, or CHE.

Saar's made his statement on IDF Radio, despite the recommendation Wednesday by the CHE's Committee for Planning and Finance not to grant Ariel university status.

"There will be struggles here, and I do not want to give precise predictions about the time it will take for this process to be completed, but in the end Ariel will be a university," Saar said.

He added that he has received the agreement of Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz that the budget for the new university will not come at the expense of other universities, but be added to the existing budget.

The body that is to decide whether the academic institution is recognized as a university will be the CHE in Judea and Samaria (Yehuda and Shomron). That body has already said Ariel has successfully met the requirements for becoming a university.